


ease my mind

by cupsofstardust



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anxiety, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:00:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25624807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupsofstardust/pseuds/cupsofstardust
Summary: It's fine it's fine everything is fine it's—"...Naruto?"
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 17
Kudos: 166





	ease my mind

**Author's Note:**

> I think. that Naruto has anxiety. thanks for listening <3

_No no no no no no no—_

He can't do this again. He _can't,_ it's so—it's so unfair, and—and _selfish,_ and—

Sasuke needs to _sleep,_ he can't keep—keep _waking him up,_ especially for—for things like _this,_ that he knows are crazy and irrational and _stupid, so so stupid, just be normal for once—_

His breath catches on a sob and he covers his mouth, pressing his face into his pillow. 

He's fine, he's _fine._

_I'm fine, please just be fine, you're safe and everything is fine and Sasuke is in the other room and he's fine—_

His computer screen is blurry.

He wipes frantically at his face with the palms of his hands before the tears can even fall—they start collecting again anyway, his vision wavering. Hot tears spill down his cheeks and he sniffles against his pillow, warm air wafting back into his face with every shaking exhale. 

He needs something, he needs—

_I need Sasuke, I—he can help, if I just—_

But Sasuke has work tomorrow, and he's going in early and it's the one night that he gets the least amount of sleep and Naruto _knows_ that and he can't—Sasuke's _so tired,_ he knows he is, but—

But if he stays in here, in the dark, by himself, nothing will change, and it will still feel like there's an elephant on his chest and he still won't be able to breathe and he'll still cry so hard and loud that it feels like he's _screaming_ and Sasuke will be upset that he didn't ask for help because Sasuke is so good and kind and gentle even if he doesn't show it to anyone else—

Shame lodges itself in his throat as he pushes back his blanket, vision still blurry with tears.

He wipes at his eyes, knowing it's pointless, and opens his bedroom door. The hallway is dark, since it's— _God, it's two in the morning, he shouldn't—_

But he does.

Sasuke's door is open. Slivers of moonlight cut across the ceiling and fall over the bed. Sasuke's curled up on his side, facing the room, one hand under his pillow and the other resting loosely on the bed in front of him. 

Tears blur the sight and Naruto swallows.

He quietly pads into the room and stops halfway to the bed, unsure. Sasuke's fine, he can see that, and _he's_ fine, so there's no reason to—to—

Reasonably, he shouldn't—

But he doesn't _feel fine,_ even if he knows he is, and he's afraid to fall asleep because Sasuke goes to work so early and he's going to miss him in the morning and what if something happens to Sasuke at work—

He sniffles, covering his face to muffle the sound, and lets out a silent sob into his hands. 

_It's fine it's fine everything is fine it's—_

"...Naruto?"

Sasuke sits up, looking so tired and messy and soft, and it makes Naruto cry harder, because this is _embarrassing._ He hates this, he hates—he hates having Sasuke see him like this, it's so— _humiliating—_

He gets up, his hands gently touching Naruto's arms. "Hey," he murmurs, wrapping his fingers around his wrists and pulling his hands away from his face. "What's going on?"

Naruto sniffs, his gaze staying on the floor between them. "I don't—" His lower lip trembles. "I don't know, I just—"

Sasuke's hands leave his, moving instead to wipe the tears off his cheeks. 

"I'm sorry for—for waking you up, I didn't want to, I know you have work and it's—"

"It's fine, Naruto. I don't mind." He pauses for a moment, until Naruto looks at him, then continues. "Come on."

He leaves the bedroom, obviously expecting Naruto to follow. 

He does. 

Sasuke leads him to the kitchen, where he pulls two mugs out of the cabinet.

"What are you doing?" he asks, hating how small and watery his voice sounds. 

"I," he starts, picking up the kettle and filling it with water, "am making us some hot chocolate, and then we're going to sit on the couch." He turns around, kettle in hand, and faces Naruto. "Sound good?"

He nods, feeling pathetic. "Yeah." He sniffles again, wiping at his face with the back of his hand and taking a seat at the table. "Thanks, Sasuke."

It's quiet while Sasuke makes their drinks, with just the brief whistle of the kettle before it's hastily pulled off the stove and spoons clinking against each other interrupting the silence. 

"Was it anything in particular?" Sasuke asks, looking up from the packets of hot chocolate in his hands. 

Naruto rubs at his eyes again—they burn, along with the rest of his face, and he knows he must look like a mess—

"I don't know, I just—" His throat constricts again and he crosses his arms over the table and hides his face in them. "I don't feel safe. Like—"

Sasuke waits patiently, pouring the cocoa powder into the mugs and adding hot water and a little milk, 'cause that's how Naruto's mom made it when he was a kid and Sasuke remembers because of course he does. 

He just sighs, trying to relieve some of the pressure in his chest. "I don't know. It's stupid. I shouldn't have woken you up over it."

A mug thunks against the table in front of him and he lifts his head to find Sasuke beside him. 

"Stop it. I said it was fine and I meant it."

Naruto's heart beats faster, but this time it has nothing to do with the anxiety. "Yeah, but—like, you shouldn't have to take care of me, y'know, I just—"

"Naruto."

He looks up at him—Sasuke's dark eyes are serious. 

"I don't mind taking care of you." 

Naruto swallows his heart. "I—"

He raps on the table. "Come on," he says, leading the way into the living room.

Naruto follows, mug in hand, and sits cross-legged on the couch beside him. He looks down at his drink and smiles to himself. Sasuke got the kind with the little marshmallows. 

He can feel Sasuke watching him now, over the lip of his mug as he pokes his tongue into his drink to test the temperature. It's too hot, judging by the way his face scrunches up.

He puts his mug on the coffee table. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just—I haven't—" He closes his eyes and sighs into his drink, so that the hot air wafts up into his face and steadies him. "I was just thinking too much. About—" He swallows around the lump in his throat. "I don't know. I just feel, like—powerless, sometimes. Like I can't stop bad things from happening, no matter how hard I try."

Sasuke's expression doesn't change. "Yeah. But I'm okay. And you're okay. And Ino and Sakura and Gaara and Kiba and Lee are all okay."

He swallows again, but it's not any easier. His eyes fill, a tear dripping into his drink. "Yeah, I know, but—"

"I know," Sasuke interrupts. "I know that it doesn't click sometimes. But I'm promising you, right now, that everybody is fine."

When Naruto doesn't answer, he sighs. 

"Let's play a game."

Naruto looks up.

"What do you think Sakura would be doing right now?" Sasuke tilts his head so it's resting against the back of the couch, a playful spark in his eyes. "I think, if she's still awake, she's... pumping iron, so she can beat up Sai."

Naruto almost smiles. "She's more likely to be on the night shift at work—"

"Then she's pumping iron on the night shift at work," Sasuke amends. "Just dreaming of the next time she'll get to throttle Sai."

That makes him laugh—the idea of Sakura, done up in her work scrubs, bench-pressing sixty pounds in the breakroom.

Sasuke cracks a smile of his own. Naruto thinks he looks so beautiful, sitting here in his pajamas with tired eyes and messy hair and that smile on his face that tells him it's okay, at least for right now.

"I bet Lee is getting ready for his three am run because he's out of his fucking mind," Naruto tries, and it's worth it for the way Sasuke's smile widens. 

"And Gaara's been binge-watching youtube tutorials for shit he's never going to do for hours now, and he hasn't even realized what time it is yet."

Naruto laughs again, and it feels a little lighter. "Yeah. Ino's definitely asleep, though. She's the only person I know who's like, kinda normal."

Sasuke lets out an amused breath. "And God knows what Kiba is doing. I don't think I even want to guess."

It grows quiet for a moment, and Naruto shifts his gaze to observe Sasuke. He looks tired, like he might fall asleep on the couch. Guilt slithers its way into his stomach.

"You can go back to sleep if you want," he offers quietly, his focus shifting back to his drink. "I know you're working early tomorrow."

He feels it the moment Sasuke's eyes are on him.

"You need me," is all he says, and _God, he even_ sounds _tired._

He sighs. "Yeah, but—"

"I'll just take tomorrow off, then."

Naruto blinks. "Huh?"

Sasuke doesn't meet his eyes, just repeats, "I'll take tomorrow off, and we can just hang out, or whatever."

Butterflies swarm his stomach, something warm pooling in his chest. "Oh..."

"...Oh?"

He's waiting for a response, he realizes. "Yeah—yeah I, um... yeah, that sounds good."

"Alright," Sasuke says. "I'm gonna get some sleep in the meantime, though, if you're okay...?"

Naruto worries his lip between his teeth, uncertain. "Can we..." He cuts himself off with a shake of his head. "Never mind."

He quirks a brow. "Can we what?"

Naruto ducks his head a little, in an attempt to hide the blush forming on his face. "Can we stay out here and like, watch a movie, or something?"

Sasuke's tired smile is a sight Naruto will never be tired of seeing. "Sure," he mumbles, "s'long as you don't mind if I accidentally fall asleep halfway through it."

He laughs a little. "Nah, I don't mind, I just..." He hesitates. "I just don't wanna be alone right now, I think."

Sasuke gestures to his laptop on the coffee table, still plugged into the charger, and Naruto gets up to unplug it while Sasuke unfolds the blanket from the back of the couch and wraps it around himself. 

When Naruto turns around, laptop in hand, Sasuke lifts the blanket a little, an invitation that renders Naruto's stomach a giddy, nervous wreck.

He tucks himself in beside Sasuke and pulls up Netflix on the laptop, trying his hardest to ignore the tingle that races down his spine when Sasuke's arms fold around him and his cheek rests on the top of his head. 

He just settles into the crook of his neck, warm and comfortable and _safe,_ and he feels it when Sasuke smiles. 

"Thanks, Sasuke," he mumbles, with a small, content smile of his own.

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, Naruto."

They fall asleep like that, sitting on the couch under a too-small blanket, a forgotten movie playing in the background.

It's the most peaceful sleep Naruto's had in awhile.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd apologize for constantly pushing my Naruto-is-mentally-ill agenda but... I'm not sorry :/ 
> 
> Hope you liked this! Comments and kudos are nice, thank you <3
> 
> [my twitter!](https://twitter.com/yujinchos)


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